DNA strand cleavage in vitro by 3-hydroxyamino-1-methyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]-indole, a direct-acting mutagen formed in the metabolism of carcinogenic 3-amino-1-methyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole.

3-Hydroxyamino-1-methyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole (N-OH-Trp-P-2) is a direct-acting mutagenic compound derived by metabolic activation from 3-amino-1-methyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole (Trp-P-2), a strongly mutagenic carcinogen. The action of N-OH-Trp-P-2 on DNA in vitro was investigated. N-OH-Trp-P-2 inactivated Bacillus subtilis transforming DNA and produced single-strand cuts in a supercoiled circular DNA (phi X174RFI) under neutral conditions. When mouse FM3A cells in culture were treated with a noncytotoxic dose of N-OH-Trp-P-2 and then the cellular DNA was examined by the alkaline elution technique, chain cleavages of the DNA were observed. Cysteamine inhibited the spontaneous degradation of N-OH-Trp-P-2 and enhanced the covalent binding of [3H]N-OH-Trp-P-2 to DNA. This finding offered an explanation for the previously observed enhancement of Trp-P-2 mutagenicity by cysteamine. In contrast cysteamine inhibited the N-OH-Trp-P-2-mediated inactivation of B. subtilis DNA as well as the strand cleavage in phi X174RFI DNA. The cleavage in phi X174RFI DNA was also inhibited by catalase. These observations indicate that the mutagenicity and DNA-cleaving activity of N-OH-Trp-P-2 are distinct from each other, that the inactivation of transforming DNA was caused mainly by strand cleavage, and that the DNA cleavage was probably caused by active oxygen radicals produced in the oxidative degradation of N-OH-Trp-P-2.